I did not realize until I was editing this podcast that 1/3 of the time of this episode is spent on Encountering God through Nature and Creation.

I go off on a bit of a rant about how we should not care how non-believers have got the worship of Nature and Creation wrong, leaving out The Creator, and that we should, that we must, just embrace the wonder, awe and majesty that is found in nature and creation.

I am going to write another article on Why Do Christians Always Fear that Taking the God Stuff to An Extreme Leads in The Wrong Direction?

Okay, so the title lacks some nuance but: Why do we assume that teaching that God can be encountered through Nature and Creation will almost certainly lead to tree hugging, cloud gazing and new age-istic stuff?

Why do we not instead use our imagination to picture people coming to know Jesus at they experience nature? That we have a voice to say, “Wow! Yes, that is spectacular and I know Who Created It.”

We could tell them that we know…

* The Architect.

* The Developer.

* The Artist.

And then we could introduce them to Him.

What would change if we let our imaginations run wild with how easy it was to Encounter God? And that instead of believing His attention is hard to get, that He is not so far away? That, in fact, He is eager to hear and to be heard?

I have found it incredibly difficult yet extremely productive spiritually to let my imagination run in the direction of how easy it is to encounter God.

In doing so I have had my beliefs challenged, repented of old ways of thinking and discovered new ways of relating to my Heavenly Father. New Encounters have caused me a great deal of discomfort, they’ve gone head to head with what I already believed, caused me some embarrassment and made me step out in faith with only knowing one step instead of all of the steps forward.

And it has been a lot of fun.

So, go ahead and go wild and imagine what would change in your thinking, your belief system, your emotions and your perspective if you Encountered God more easily and more often?

This Podcast Outline

* 00 to 2:05 Introduction

* 2:05 to 9:10 Encounter God thru Nature & Creation

* 9:10 to 19:20 Encounter God thru Spiritual Disciplines

* 19:20 to 26:50 Encounter God thru Acts of Service & Love

* 26:50 to 31:00 Encounter God thru All the Weird Ways

* 31:00 to 32:00 Conclusion

“New Encounters have caused me a great deal of discomfort, they’ve gone head to head with what I already believed, caused me some embarrassment and made me step out in faith with only knowing one step instead of all of the steps forward.”

In this podcast I cover some ways we can Encounter God. I have listed out 4 of the 8 ways in this podcast and will cover the next 4 in a later podcast.

You can jump down to the next portion and find out where each of the sections starts just in case you want to listen to a single portion of it.

I always have a specific topic for each podcast and about half of the time I write out an outline. Writing something with “8” Ways gives me a great map to follow so I don’t get lost along the way (and lose you while you are at it!).

My hope and prayer is that you do not “Consume” these writings and podcasts as things to learn. My prayer is that you utilize them as spiritual pokes and prods to inspire you to Rethink what you currently believe about Encounters, to Believe for more encounters and to pursue the Mystical presence of God in your life.

Speaking of Mystical, I love the definition that says Mystical “Inspires a sense of mystery, awe and fascination.”

* Why settle for the latest Netflix show to inspire a sense of mystery?

* Why Wait until The Astros win the World Series again to be in awe?

* Why not choose today to be fascinated what could be possible if we would open up our belief system to encompass the things of the Spirit?

MYSTICAL —inspiring a sense of mystery, awe and fascination

Back to having a few main points! Even though I typically have a topic and a few main points I am often surprised by what is revealed while I am speaking. I think that is one reason why Paul says, “By now you all ought to be teachers” because teaching others teaches us.

Anyways, here are a few things that caught me by surprise while recording this podcast…

* Most people are not experiencing God in Prayer because they have been taught that they should not expect God to speak to them but JUST BELIEVE. This, of course, is a cop out and a subtle lie of the enemy to disconnect us from God.

* Most Christians get something intellectually and/or emotionally from scripture but few have ever Encountered God’s Spirit to Their Spirit while studying/reading God’s word.

* If you really want to get your feelings hurt right away, jump to Point 12:13 in the podcast and listen in on what I have to say about worship. Editing the podcast made me realize I have some pretty strong opinions about Worship. Hmmm? Who would have guessed?

* There is a LIE straight from HELL that is convincing Christians that church attendance, worshipping together regularly, gathering for teaching at multiple levels, etc. IS NOT necessary. While it is not necessary to be a Christian IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to be a valuable, maturing, giving, parenting part of The Body of Christ.

This Podcast Outline

* 00 to 2:50 Introduction

* 2:50 to 7:20 Encounter God in Prayer

* 7:20 to 12:13 Encounter God in Scripture

* 12:13 to 20:30 Encounter God in Worship

* 20:30 to 27:36 Encounter God in Community & Fellowship

* 27:36 to 29:20 Sneak Peak at Part #2 and Conclusion

You can find all of my podcasts on iTunes, Spotify and on my Substack Page. This Podcast will be available on YouTube in a few days if you prefer to watch your podcasts.

Part #2 of 8 Ways to Encounter God will be released sometime next week.

As always! Please subscribe, comment, like and share anything that resonates with you!

I would love to have you listen to this entire Podcast but please feel free to scan over the topics covered below and go straight to a section that interests you.

There are 8 things I talk about that we can do in order to cultivate our hearts in order to encounter God more. Please let me know if you can add some to my list!

The Cultivation of our hearts (I’ll cover our minds later on in this series) is an important part of our “good works”. Jesus is an extremely generous seed thrower and sower BUT the ground that it reaches is within our control.

Cultivation of our hearts and minds…

* Keeps the seed from getting snatched up and eaten by birds

* Keeps the seed from hitting rocky ground and being unable to take root so when it gets hots outside (and it WILL get hot!) they quickly wither away

* Keeps the seeds from sprouting amongst thorns that eventually choke them out

* Keeps the seeds protected, thriving and producing a high yield of good fruit

Cultivating the ground is part of our partnership with The Holy Spirit within us, part of the actions we take in FAITH (confidence) that the indestructible, incorruptible seed planted within us upon salvation has changed everything, is changing everything and will change everything.

(see I Peter 1:23 NIV)

“For through the eternal and living Word of God you have been born again. And this “seed” that he planted within you can never be destroyed but will live and grow inside of you forever”

The Order of This Podcast

41-Minutes in Length

00: Introduction: Cultivating a Heart for God Encounters

06:33 Examine Yourself

11:25 Practice Repentance & Forgiveness

16:00 Cultivate Humility

19:45 Immerse Yourself in God’s Word

23:45 Stir Up Love & Compassion

28:00 Practice Surrender

33:07 Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude

36:52 Foster Expectation

39:55 Conclusion

“The Software of Your Mind, running on the hardware of Your Brain, just may have been corrupted over time with malware that keeps You from even Considering that God Encounters are possible for you but there are ways to Cultivate a new mindset and heart for Encounter”

You are a Pessimistic Extrapolator IF your framework for viewing The Future of Humanity is based on the worst you see in people and circumstances Right NOW.

The Pessimistic Extrapolator spins a story about the future where no solutions are found, humanity makes no changes and technology always functions at its worst.

The Optimistic Extrapolator tells a story about the future where solutions are found, where humanity changes how they think and live and where technology becomes more useful than harmful.

Psychological research shows that some people are just born more Positive, with happier dispositions than others. The rate appears to be about 25% (stats here vary a lot) of the Population…

BUT, that does not let you off the hook!

While you may have been born with a shinier disposition than others, your life and your life choices, may have beat some of that positivity out of you.

AND, while you may have been born with a more a less than optimistic mindset you can make CHOICES that will increase your Positivity, which will then increase your cheerfulness and pleasant disposition.

As Christians WE BELIEVE in the power of making choices and reaping the rewards of those choices…

* “CHOOSE YOU this day who YOU will serve…” (Joshua 24)

* “CHOOSE life, that you and your offspring may live…” (Deuteronomy 30)

* “TURN and live…” (Ezekiel 18)

* “THINK on these things…” (Philippians 4)

* “SEEK FIRST the kingdom…” (Matthew 6)

“The Christian with an entirely Negative Viewpoint of Humanity AND of Our Future is using their Imagination in order to work against the beautiful story of Salvation, the powerful Redemption offered by the cross and the constant Restoration of Humanity to God through Jesus”

You can listen to this Podcast and all my podcasts directly from SubStack or from the links below at Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for commenting, sharing, liking and for basically appreciating what I have to offer via written and podcast form!

We almost only hear of being a good steward when it comes to our finances and while this is extremely important I believe there is an even more crucial place for good stewardship.

The Stewardship of YOU. Of your personality, of your thoughts and emotions and of your time and your skills.

In order to be a good steward of YOU, you must learn how to get clarity of YOU.

In this podcast I share four ways to Gain Personal Clarity:

* Personal Development

* Scripture

* Life Experiences

* Friendship Conversations

Thanks for sharing, liking and commenting! I love getting your responses, questions and thoughts! You can easily share this by clicking the blue SHARE below…

You can listen to a one minute YouTube Short here on False Humility, as well as sign up for my YouTube Channel.

And if you missed the beginning of this conversation on the Importance and Power of Clarity, you can start with the first article below.

This idea of personal clarity started with the idea of Clarifying Conversations.

As I was writing I realized that those very important Clarifying Conversations could only happen if we got clear with ourselves on a personal level.

This is the shortest of the 3 podcasts on Personal Clarity thru Mental Models.

In this 10:34 Minutes we explore…

* Instead of filtering what people say thru a negative lens, how about practicing with the positive lens of scripture?

* The Negative is easy to see! It is much more difficult to see the Kingdom Positive but that is the right hard work.

* Identifying Ourselves from a heavenly perspective

* Instead of Stubborn, I am Persistent

* Instead of Angry, I am Passionate

* Instead of Aggressive, I am a Catalyst for change and growth

If you prefer watching a podcast then you can view this video on YouTube by clicking below…

I edited this portion of the podcast yesterday morning and was, well, inspired by what I heard!

I know! It was me listening to me but it was still a nice surprise.

This is how I am “Working” the writing and the podcasting…

* I write some articles then I sit down in front of the microphone and start talking.

* I just talk about that one topic, well, trying to stick to one topic.

* My goal is to talk like I am having a chat with a trusted friend.

* Within that talking I am exploring what I wrote at a deeper level, which means I am learning something new about myself. Or, maybe a better way to say that is, I am pulling some stuff out of myself that I wasn’t aware of (or had hidden).

* While I am podcasting I am “Listening” to myself explore and then the next week when I edit I get to listen again (and cut out all the bad parts…if only life were that way!).

This is Part #2 and you may notice I changed the title up from Part #1.

Why?

Because as I was editing I found a clearer theme and wanted this series to reflect how important Personal Clarity is and not only Clarifying Conversations. In fact, you will have far fewer healthy clarifying conversations if you do not get clear about yourself!

In this 24-minutes we will explore…

* I am a Practicing Christian (which means perfection is never the goal)

* I have a spiritual gift

* I am a Gift, yet may need to sharpen myself

* I DO Care even when I say I do not care

You can find me on iTunes and Spotify under The Journey Life with Les Herron. If you prefer to watch instead of listen you can find me on YouTube at the link below.

Read The Article by clicking below…

I believe that Personal Clarity is Crucial to personal happiness, health and growth.

Without personal clarity we are those who are tossed about on the waves of indecision, believing what the Enemy says about us, accepting whatever name society calls us and being controlled by what is called our Toddler Brain (our untrained brain).

There will be 3 podcast covering some of the Mental Models I use. In this Episode you will

* Hear more of my personal story

* A summary of the power of clarity

* A way of thinking that helps me show up and BE more compassionate

It is 17-minutes long so you can listen to it while walking on the treadmill at the gym, commuting to work or pulling weeds in your garden!

I wrote about Clarifying Conversations last week and this week I am going to again focus on CLARITY. Yes, more about clarifying conversations but also about this podcast’s topic of Personal Clarity and how to get clearer on being YOU.

I will also cover…

* Why Clarity is the only path to truly loving and being loved

* Why Clarity can be experienced as offensive by some people

* Some things you can start doing to gain more personal clarity

BTW, if there is a topic you would like me to explore and write about, please connect with me and ask! Several of you have and I am working on Thinking About your topics. I hope to write some responses soon!

“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Hebrews 10:16 NIV

You can always subscribe on Spotify or iTunes and get these Podcasts automatically downloaded to your phone.

I believe shame is the #1 reason why we do not fully receive and absolutely believe in The Work of The Cross.

The phrase, "I am a sinner saved by Grace" is a Shame Phrase.

This phrase keeps us connected to our Old Master.

Keeps us attached to Our Dead Man.

Keeps us on the other side of The Cross.

Keeps us thinking about US, instead of HIM.

Saying, “I am a sinner saved by Grace” is like…

* The caged bird that sings about being imprisoned, but the cage doors are wide open

* The elephant who stands in one place and never explores because of the chain that USED TO BE anchoring her into that one spot.

* The adoptive child who introduces themselves as “I am adopted, this is not my real Dad and I want everyone to remember that I was once unloved, unsafe and without A Name.”

If you want your Mind recalibrated towards what Heaven is saying instead of the current message you have stuck in your head, then listen to the message on “Why You Are Not a Sinner Saved by Grace” by clicking the button above or by finding The Journey Life with Les Herron on Spotify and iTunes.

If you want to get this Podcast automatically downloaded every time I post one up, then here is a recent message on Spotify that you can click on and follow to my Channel…and then FOLLOW the podcast.

Thanks for reading what I am writing, for listening to what I am saying and for liking, sharing and commenting on content that brings you value.

The problem is NEVER what God has not Done.

The problem is NEVER what I have not Done or what I have Done.

My Problem is always, always, always FAITH.

Yes, sometimes practically I need a sandwich or a nap or a good conversation with a friend BUT, well, I think you get the picture I am trying to paint!

I want to clarify the Above Point about “The problem is NEVER what I have Not Done or what I have Done”.

By that I mean there is no WORK I Accomplished to gain this beautiful gift of Salvation AND there is not WORK I can ever Do in order to maintain His Salvation.

What makes me think that I can continue the beautiful work of salvation within me by now taking control of the mystical and scandalous good work of Jesus within me?

IF I did NO-THING for my Salvation except BELIEVE then how could SOME-THING (S) become a problem?

I repeat: The problem cannot be about what I have or have not done.

IF BELIEF started His Good WORK within me THEN BELIEF will continue His WORK within me.

That is what this Podcast Message is about this Easter Week.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)

Judas Felt Bad, While Peter Believed

Judas betrayed Jesus. Yet! Jesus did not kick Judas out of The Discipleship Group. Jesus did not reject Judas and still celebrated a deeply spiritual celebratory meal with him.

We can read about Peter’s blatant denial of Jesus but often forget that it also says EVERY disciple Denied Jesus. Yet!!! Jesus still chose every one of those 11 Deniers to carry His Message to the world.

Why then do we constantly FEEL like Jesus is getting ready to ask God to UnAdopt Us? To kick us out of His Family? To punish us somehow for us Being Human?

And speaking of Judas. Again, we often forget that Judas felt bad for the decisions he made and took back the 30 pieces of silver he was paid to betray Jesus.

Feeling Bad about your actions does not solve anything! Believing God is loving, good and forgiving SOLVES everything.

Enough of that! Click the PLAY button in this email of click below to find The Journey Life with Les Herron on iTunes.

“Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power 2:15 Literally “governments and authorities.” to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!” (Colossians 2:15 TPT)

I mention a song in this Podcast. It was recorded by a lot of people but here is Johnny Cash’s recording of The Old Rugged Cross.